Actualized Recovery, the self-help concept and book of the same name by Dave and Susan Kenney, is based in no small part on the core principle that the brain is responsible for everything we do, feel, and think. It’s at the center of the human being—the personal bio-computer controlling who we are and how we navigate the world.
As international best-selling authors, the Kenneys are pioneering recovery educators and health and wellbeing practitioners. Their latest work, Actualized Recovery, builds upon and further champions a brain-first approach to recovering from the shackles of addiction so that people can live their best lives as their best selves.
The concept represents a significant shift in how people address addiction and self-destructive behaviors. Above all else, it recognizes the brain’s pivotal role in driving behavior and leverages this understanding to foster long-term change and achieve life-changing results.
Brain Versus Mind, Computer Versus Software
There’s a significant but still widely overlooked difference between the mind and the brain. The human mind is not the same as the physical brain. The Kenneys, as pioneering recovery educators, have long used a crucial IT-related metaphor when defining the brain versus the mind: the brain is the body’s hard drive while the mind is its software.
The brain is akin to a highly advanced physical computer hard drive, constantly receiving and interpreting data from sensory inputs like taste, touch, smell, sight, and sound. It repeatedly analyzes this data, prompting different responses and actions. These responses and actions govern every aspect of human behavior.
Software is different. It consists of our experiences, recorded into our hard drives – our brains. If a computer gets hacked and infected with a virus, its software will not work correctly. With that, it may stop functioning altogether.
The Brain and the Central Nervous System
The body’s hard drive, the brain, powers its all-important software-like central nervous system composed of the distinct sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. The sympathetic nervous system powers the body’s fight-or-flight response to distress. It’s like a fire alarm in a building and a fantastic system for ensuring our safety and survival.
However, the sympathetic nervous system can become overly active, akin to an alarm system that keeps going off unnecessarily. The body then exists in a constant state of high alert.
Meanwhile, the parasympathetic nervous system serves to help the body recover, relax, and rejuvenate after stressful periods. In contrast to the sympathetic nervous system, it encourages balance, calm, and well-being. Yet, the parasympathetic nervous system, too, can become overly active. The result is often lethargy and low energy levels.
People often seek relief in cases of overstimulated sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. This relief commonly comes in the form of self-medication, substance abuse, and addictive behaviors like gambling. That’s why Actualized Recovery’s brain-first, central nervous system-led approach is so important.
Physiology, Psychology, and the Vagus Nerve
Actualized Recovery reveals that physiology drives psychology, powered by the brain. This fact underlines how the body’s physical state and its biological processes significantly influence our mental state and psychological experiences. Essentially, this means that the condition and functioning of our bodies can shape our behaviors, emotions, and thoughts.
This concept underscores the deep interconnection between our physical bodies and our mental states. At the heart of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems is the vagus nerve. This nerve connects the brain with the entire body and is especially crucial to the parasympathetic nervous system.
When it comes to addiction, the vagus nerve controls the sympathetic nervous system’s ability to activate the body’s fight or flight response to distress. At the same time, its simultaneous ability to affect the parasympathetic nervous system can also result in unwanted or otherwise problematic lethargy and low energy levels. These are two major contributors for people to use a substance or behavior to seek relief, regardless of the emotional, relationship, health, or financial costs.
This reality further proves the importance of a brain-first approach to any recovery program. Focusing on the central nervous system, vagus nerve, physiology, and psychology in equal measure helps individuals recover from addiction and other problems from a demonstrably successful brain-first perspective.
Modern Brain Imaging Insights
Modern brain imaging continues to offer groundbreaking insight into how closely underlying brain dysfunction is associated with addiction. These breakthroughs provide tangible evidence of the links long promoted by Dave and Susan Kenney via Actualized Recovery and elsewhere.
They also perfectly highlight the brain’s capacity for healing and change, allowing for the tailoring of treatment strategies to individual needs. Such tailoring directly enhances the effectiveness of efforts to address addiction and instills hope and direction in people’s individualized journeys toward recovery.
Inspired by groundbreaking scientific research, Actualized Recovery works by helping individuals recognize the triggers and thought patterns driving their most self-destructive behaviors. The process facilitates recovery via insight into recurring self-defeating patterns and by identifying the toxic thoughts and emotional responses associated with them.
Brain-First Recovery and Personal Growth
Awareness surrounding toxic thoughts and emotional responses is vital for intrinsic, long-lasting recovery and subsequent personal growth in any capacity. Whether from addiction, trauma, or mental health challenges, Actualized Recovery offers a proven method to break the cycle of harmful thought patterns fundamental to successful healing.
By focusing on positive and healthy thoughts and actions, effective recovery and ongoing well-being are readily achievable and well within reach. This realization perfectly illustrates the remarkable power of physiology, psychology, and the body and mind’s ability to change and adapt, further underpinning the importance of Dave and Susan Kenney’s brain-first approach to recovery.
Your future self is counting on you to make decisions today that result in a sharp mind and a strong body for a lifetime. In doing so, you can rise above adversity and overcome addiction and other self-destructive behaviors, unlocking your maximum, life-long potential in the process.
